Neumann TQs opening 4WD qualifier
Joern Neumann TQ’d the opening 4WD qualifier at the Electric Offroad World Championships in California, the Team Durango driver recovering from an early roll to snatch it by 3/10ths from Naoto Matsukura and Ryan Maifield with defending champion Ryan Cavalieri completing the Top 4. It was a strong start to qualifying for Durango with Neumann being joined in the Top 6 by team-mates Ryan Lutz and Travis Amezcua.
Running second to Maifield on the time clock, Neumann dropped back to 8th after a mistake on lap three which lost him 2-seconds. Having made the front end of his prototype DEX410 stiffer to try & stop it from 3-wheeling in the corners, he said this made it feel too easy to drive. Ultimately it wasn’t as forgiving as he thought as carrying too much speed to the 180 corner in the centre of the track he thought he could save it by giving full lock resulting in him rolling off the track. Happy to kick off qualifying with a TQ run he said for Q2 he will go with a front end set-up somewhere in between what he used in final practice and Q1.
Running in the B heat along with Cavalieri, 2011 Worlds Finalist Matsukura was pleased with his opening run. The Yokomo driver was happy with his B-Max4 III and said his focus for Q2 is to repeat the 5-minute run.
Having broke on the warm-up lap of the opening 2WD qualifier, Maifield said compared to that his 3rd place was a ‘great start’. The Associated driver, who was one of the few drivers to put in a totally clean 5-minutes, said he drove ‘probably a little too cautious’ and this cost him a few places. Team-mate Cavalieri said his B44.2 was a little too easy to drive and for Q2 he will try a different front spring. In contention for his 5th World title this weekend, he said during the qualifier he had a intermittent drive problem which they discover afterwards was a broken rear hex pin. The problem being unveiled after the had problems getting the rear wheel off the buggy.
Finishing just under 3/10th behind team-mate Lutz, Amezcua was pleased with his run to the 6th fastest time. Like Neumann, Lutz having destroyed his in practice, Amezcua is running the prototype chassis but unlike the German who is running it in saddle pack configuration he is running a shortie pack. Making the car lighter he said he started out like this so they could make a comparison but said he will stick with it for the rest of the event as he is happy with the performance. Planning to thicken up his front shock for Q2 he said his main focus is better figuring out his braking points.
Seventh fastest was Steven Hartson, the LA driver saying afterwards he ‘wish(ed) he hadn’t crashed that one time’. Losing around 2 seconds, which would have potentially given him a top 3 for the round, the Associated driver said besides that it was a perfect run and he will continue with his B44.2 as is for the next one.
Having topped the final practice, Lee Martin struggled with a ‘twitchy’ car in Q1. Having a bobble on the opening lap he had a bigger mistake later in the run. The Tamiya driver said he was not comfortable with the TRF511 and as a result he couldn’t push for a good time. For Q2 the British ace will fit new arms which are made from a different plastic in the hope that he can get his confidence back with the car. Behind Martin, Associated designer Kody Numedahl set the ninth fastest time with Dakotah Phend ensuring one of Team Losi Racing’s new TLR22-4 made the Top 10.
Elsewhere HB’s Ty Tessman posted the 14th fastest time the Canadian saying afterwards he just made too many mistakes which he needs to tidy up for the next one. Jared Tebo also had a run full of errors with the Kyosho driver ending up 44th.
Due to a high possiblity of the rain which interrupted the 2WD World Championships returning tomorrow, officials have revised today’s timetable with all 5 rounds now set to be run today.
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